Vinyl Breathes Life Into Dying Music Sales

Independent record store owners see a way forward

(Newser)
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The last decade was not kind to the independent record store owner, as digital downloads—legal and illegal—and online retailers cut deeply into sales. But there's hope on the horizon, and it comes from the past—vinyl albums. Nielsen SoundScan says 2.8 million vinyl records were sold in 2010, the most since it began keeping tabs in 1991. USA Today looks at the experience of one independent store owner: Tim Cretsinger, who owns Groovacious in Cedar City, Utah.

Cretsinger has managed to stay afloat but has seen his peers die off—the closest competitor is 175 miles away in Las Vegas. After enduring year after depressing year, he's seeing some increased profits, all based on increased record sales. "Vinyl seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have hung in there," Cretsinger says. "It's kind of a surprising light at the end of the tunnel. It's incredibly exciting."

The soundtrack from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey spins on the turntable at the Modern Hotel in downtown Boise, Idaho on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
(AP Photo/Troy Maben)

I for one am happy to hear it.. I still have my old albums and turn table. For once I am on I am a trail blazer.

Cat-Lover

Feb 25, 2011 8:33 PM CST

This is the dumbest P.R. ploy since Bissell Sweepers.

schmidtkoff

Feb 25, 2011 6:38 PM CST

urrrrgh. i had stacks of records from my youth. in one fell swoop i bought a cassette recorder, recorded them and placed all records on the curb with a note saying "free to a good home".
urrrrgh! then came cd's that could not be recorded. but nonetheless i bought them anyway. replacing all of my "taped" albums, then gave the tapes to the curb, "free to a good home". then alas along came mp3 players. i was suddenly a dinosaur. and i thought, ok, if i did buy into this, this which seemed to me was an auto i.e. self-contained listening device (meaning I could not any longer share my music). how would i have guests over to share music with. from this thing which i still don't comprehend. how can great music be in the background when it is plugged into my ear? granted i am ignorant of this. i don't get it. in any event my multi cd player died. i was left with a cd player that plugged into the automobile lighter. i became music-less. i've a box of great cd's in my closet that I guess have become obsolete. i don’t want to listen to one cd at a time with an ear plug. I want the music to blast from room to room. scarlatti, smetana and the moldau. dvorak’s slavanic dances. phillip glass. ottmar leibert luna negra + euphoria, cirque du soleil. all of dylan and baez .super tramp, etc. et, al all packed in a box and more. all of which i have relegated to the good will box. i don’t want to buy single tracks or tunes. i want a full album.
now they want me to go back to vinyl albums? for christ’s sake I haven’t evolved to the mp3 thing. grumble and more grumble.

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